Michael Dwyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Dwyer (1772–1825) was a Society of the United Irishmen leader in the 1798 rebellion. He later fought a guerilla campaign against the British Army in the Wicklow Mountains from 1798-1803.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Dwyer was born in Camera, County Wicklow. In 1784 the family moved to a farm at Eadesown in the Glen of Imaal. Dwyer was a cousin of Anne Devlin who would later achieve fame for her loyalty to the rebel cause following the suppression of Robert Emmet's rebellion.
[edit] Dwyer in 1798 rebellion
Dwyer joined the Society of United Irishmen and fought with the rebels as captain under General Joseph Holt in battles during the summer of 1798 at Arklow, Vinegar Hill, Ballyellis and Hacketstown. Under Holt's leadership he withdrew to the safety of the Wicklow Mountains in mid-July when rebels could no longer operate openly following their defeat in the disastrous midlands campaign of July 1798. Together with Joseph Holt they tied down thousands of troops.
[edit] Guerilla Campaign
Dwyer and his men began a campaign targeting local loyalists and yeomen, attacking small parties of the military and eluding any major sweeps against them. His force was strengthened by many deserters from the military who headed to Wicklow as the last rebel stronghold and who became the dedicated backbone of his force as they could not be expected to be included in any future offer of amnesty.
Due to the constant hunt for him, Dwyer was forced to split and reassemble his forces and hide amongst civilian sympathisers to elude his pursuers. In December 1799 at Derrynamuck he and about a dozen comrades were sheltering in three cottages when an informer led a large force of the British soldiers to the area. The cottages were quickly surrounded, the first two surrendering but following consultation, Dwyer and his men decided to fight on after negotiating the safe passage of the women and children. In the hopeless gunfight which followed, the cottage caught fire and only Dwyer remained unwounded. At this stage, Dwyer's comrade, Sam McAllister stood in the doorway to draw the soldiers fire on him but which allowed Dwyer to slip out and make an incredible escape.
[edit] Dwyer and Robert Emmett
Dwyer later made contact with Robert Emmet and was apprised of plans for his revolt but was reluctant to commit his followers to march to Dublin unless the rebellion showed some initial success. The subsequent failure of Emmet's rising led to a period of repression and renewed attempts by the Government to wipe out Dwyer's forces. Methods adopted included attempts to deny him shelter among the civilian population by severely punishing those suspected of harbouring his men, offering of huge rewards for information, assigning thousands of troops to Wicklow, and building a series of barracks and a military road through county Wicklow.
In December 1803 Dwyer finally capitulated on terms that would allow him safe passage to America but the government reneged on the agreement holding him in Kilmainham Jail until August 1805, when they transported him to New South Wales (Australia) as an unsentenced exile.
[edit] Australia
Dwyer had arrived in Sydney on 14 February 1806 in the Tellicherry and was given free settler status. He arrived with his wife and two eldest children. He was given a grant of 40.5 ha (100 acres) of land on Cabramatta Creek in Sydney. Michael Dwyer was quoted as saying that all Irish will be free in this new country (Australia). This statement had been used against him and he was arrested in February 1807 and imprisoned. On 11 May 1807 Dwyer was charged with conspiring to mount an Irish insurrection against British rule. An Irish convict stated in court that Michael Dwyer had plans to march on the seat of Government in Australia, at Parramatta. Dwyer did not deny that he had said that all Irish will be free but he did deny the charges of organising an Irish insurrection in Sydney. Dwyer had the powerful support of Australia's first Jewish policeman, John Harris, who expressed the opinion in court that he did not believe that Dwyer was organising a rebellion against the Government in Sydney. On 18 May 1807, Dwyer was found not guilty of the charges of organising an Irish insurrection in Sydney.
Governor William Bligh disregarded the first trial acquittal of Michael Dwyer. Bligh who regarded the Irish and many other nationalities with contempt, organised another trial for Michael Dwyer in which he was stripped of his free settler status and transported to Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) and Norfolk Island. After Governor Bligh was overthrown in the Rum Rebellion in 1808, the new Governor of New South Wales, George Johnston who was present at Dwyer's acquittal in the first trial ordered that Michael Dwyer's freedom be reinstated. Michael Dwyer was later to become Chief of Police (1813-1820) at Liverpool, New South Wales.
Dwyer died in August 1825 and is buried with his wife, Mary (nee Doyle) at Waverley Cemetery, Sydney. On his grave is inscribed the words "The Wicklow Chief" and also mentioned are the other heroes of Irish causes. This inscription and other additions to the Dwyers' graves were added to in 1898 as a monument to celebrate the centennary of the 1798 Uprising, and paid for by Irish nationalists and their supporters in Australia.
Dwyer had seven children and has numerous descendants throughout Australia. In 2002, in Bungendore near Canberra, a family reunion took place with descendants of Michael Dwyer's family including descendants of related Australian Irish families the Donoghues and Doyles. One of Michael Dwyer’s sons was the owner of The Harp Hotel in Bungendore, New South Wales in circa 1838. Dwyer’s nephew John Donoghue (1822-1892), built The Old Stone House, Molongolo Rd, Bungendore, circa 1865, a huge strongly constructed Bungendore landmark and a monument to pioneering and hard-working Irish Australian settlers.
[edit] Reference
- Ruan O’Donnell, 'Dwyer, Michael (1772? - 1825)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Supplementary Volume, MUP, 2005, p. 110.
